Support Kurds

Cape Town and the Chair of ‘The Elders’ (a group of former world leaders which aims to tackle some of the world’s most intractable problems) called on the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the political head of Turkey, to use his office and his influence to bring a lasting end to the conflict in Turkey with regards to... [Read more of this review]

Aiysha Mammo has asked International Support Kurds in Syria Association – SKS for assistance to discover the circumstances and whereabouts of her brother Tahseen Mammo who has disappeared in the Syrian prison system. Aiysha who lives in Germany said, ‘I would do anything to find my brother. I think about him every day, I miss him so much’. Tahseen’s... [Read more of this review]

‘Abdelbaqi Khalaf is being tortured or otherwise ill-treated, according to reliable sources. Every few weeks, they say, he is taken from Damascus Central prison in ‘Adra, northern Damascus, to a branch of State Security, where officers are trying to force him to “confess” to something which he maintains is not true. An unknown number of... [Read more of this review]

Some Kurdish farmers have been forced to sign blank papers which will be used to stop them reclaiming their land when the license granted to them expires. On 17 July 2010, Political Security branch in Deyrik forced some of the peasants from the village of Pastasous to sign papers accepting that when they have finished their licenses they no longer have... [Read more of this review]

Mohammad Sadigh Kaboudvand May Have Suffered Stroke; Family Claim He is Not Receiving Adequate Health Care – Human Rights Watch report Kaboudvand needs an immediate and thorough assessment of his worsening condition. Denying a prisoner necessary medical care is both cruel and unlawful. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (New... [Read more of this review]

Amnesty International has warned that draft legislative amendments scheduled to be discussed by the Parliament tomorrow, 20 July, would not, on their own, prevent violations of the rights of children. “To end unfair prosecutions under anti-terrorism laws, the authorities must amend the definition of the crimes themselves, not only the ones under which... [Read more of this review]

University examinations are finishing and the Syrian authorities have detained many Kurdish students, and are withholding information about their whereabouts and reasons for detention. Abdullah Mohammed Mesko, born in 1987 in Kobani, is a student in his last year of study in the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the Beirut Arab University. Mesko... [Read more of this review]

Faysal Chekry Ibrahim, born 10 February 1966 is Kurdish from the city of Qamishli in north-eastern Syria. He is ajanib, one of the stateless Syrian Kurds whose families were stripped of their citizenship under the special census conducted in the province of Hassaka in 1962. He is a member of the Kurdish Yekiti Party in Syria, which is banned in the... [Read more of this review]

On March 21, 2010, the Syrian security forces opened fire with live ammunition on a crowd of 5,000 in the northern Syrian town of al-Raqqah. The crowd had gathered to celebrate the Kurdish festival of Nowruz. Three people, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed. Over 50 were injured. Dozens of injured civilians were held incommunicado by... [Read more of this review]

We have reported the arrest and detention of many Kurds in Syria since the shootings at the Newroz celebrations in al-Raqqa, Syria on 20 March 2010. Approximately 100 people have been detained recently and this brings the total number of supporters of the political organisation PYD who have been detained to over 400. News of the number of arrests reaching... [Read more of this review]